Heat management is becoming important in several emerging applications such as electronics, LED lighting as well as power and battery systems. For consumer electronics devices and LED-lighting applications, heat accumulation during use may decrease the device efficiency and may shorten life span. From a user's perspective the accumulated heat may cause the device to be uncomfortable to the touch. To reduce the temperature, heat sinks are employed. They dissipate the heat away from the source and spread it over a large area through convection. Today, heat sinks are commonly made out of aluminum, as it represents a good compromise between desirable properties such as low weight, thermal conductivity and cost.
With housings/heat sinks made from electrically conducting materials such as aluminum, an insulative material typically separates the electronic components from the heat sink to prevent short circuiting. Inclusion of an insulative material increases both manufacturing complexity and cost. Further, metal-based materials are more difficult to process than alternative material solutions, which reduces freedom in part design.
Compared to metal solutions, thermoplastics, for example, are 1) easier to process, which give more freedom in parts design, 2) significantly more lightweight and 3) electrically insulative. Thus, thermoplastics could provide desirable properties and represent a promising alternative to aluminum and metals in general, although they may need to be modified with electrically insulative, thermal conductive fillers to meet performance requirements. One particular filler of interest is graphite, as it offers outstanding thermal conductivity properties. However, as graphite is electrically conductive this conductivity would need to be inhibited to fulfill the needs of this specific application domain.
In addition, materials based on boron nitride exist for high thermally conductive and electrically insulative applications. However, the costs of boron nitride as well as the high filler loadings required (to achieve high thermal conductivity) make its use cost prohibitive, making this solution unappealing as an alternative to aluminum for common applications.
These and other shortcomings are addressed by aspects of the present disclosure.